Our Kind of People: Inside America's Black Upper Class

"Our Kind Of People" by Lawrence Otis Graham is a complex and intruiging study of a little known but highly accomplished group commonly referred to as the "Black Elite". Over the years, this community have steadily contributed incredible institutions, businesses, and advancements to the African-American community and America at large. Graham writes about the history of the society he was born to; for hundreds of years people of African descent have built strong communities, businesses, churches, and schools. Even during the worst years of segregation, lynching, and tyranny, some people of Black descent were powerful, influential, and very very wealthy. He details the history of the Black Elite's favorite vacation spots such as Oak Bluffs, Martha's Vineyard; their social organizations such as Jack and Jill, an historic institution created for the benefit of the Black Elite children, The Boule, a highly exclusive group of elite men, and not to mention the extremely important sororites Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA) and Delta Sigma Theta. Their colleges such as Howard University, Spelman, Morehouse, Fisk and Meharry became hallmarks of their history and community, providing excellent educations for people of color for generations. In Graham's rich portrait of the evolution and beginnings of this unique group, he discusses the interesting position people of color had in this type of world. Most of the time, even wealthy people of Black ancestry were strictly segregated from their wealthy White counterparts. There was no personal contact with wealthy or any other class of white, such as dating, marriage, friendship or the like. Many of the times, even the wealthiest person of color were prohibited from eating in certain restaurants, staying in the hotels they wanted, going to the universities they wanted, etc. However, in a way, this highly segregated environment caused them to build up a thriving community, social life, and business world for themselves and the African-American community at large. One individual in particular was Dr. Dewitt Burton, a physician of color who belonged to this wealthy group, who founded Burton Mercy Hospital-the first and sorely needed hospital for people of color in 1940's Detroit, Michigan. Much of the Black elite were devoted to causes that benefited the African-American community. Individuals such as Mary Church Terrell was born into this Black elite world and was devoted to the advancement of women of color and African-Americans, founding an organization called the Colored Woman's League in 1892. Another example is Robert Purvis who was born of a white man and a mixed heritage woman, who went on to inherit a great deal of money from his father but dedicated his life to the abolition of slaves. People like these are discussed all throughout this amazing book, providing a wonderful historical background to this special society. Many people like to criticize this book and even the very society Graham writes abou

As an attorney in my early 30s, I have heard my parents (who are also professionals) talk about the black "elite" many, many times. I grew up with their children and, to some extent, I have shared in many of the activities of the black elite. However, my mother, a dark-skinned woman, really didn't believe in that type of elitism, because she (being in her late 50s/early 60s in age) was discriminated against by those "brown-paper-bag test passing" elites on a DAILY basis. But we still went to country day schools, private schools, lived in exclusive areas, belonged to organizations like Jack and Jill, the Deltas, the Alphas, the Prince Hall Masons, etc. Lawrence Otis Graham's book is real. It made me proud to actually read a part of black history in this country that is long-overdue--that is, the history of our people ACHIEVING against ALL odds--slavery, Jim Crow, segregation in the North, etc. That aspect of the book is great. Also, it's interesting to read so much about the organizations that I participated in as a child, or the organizations that my parents belong to, from another perspective. I guess that I took "my world" a little for granted, and I never really questioned it until I was nearly out of high school. All in all, excellence is what we should all be striving for. We are known for being athletes and entertainers. It was refreshing to read about our accomplishments other than the stories about Benjamin Banneker, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Dr. King, and so forth. Not to diminish their contributions, but to say that there are more black American achievers and contributors to society other than Dr. King and the usual ones that are quoted in the white published history books. A sad part of the book was the rampant color-based elitism. This type of elitism still exists today, but I believe that it's not as divisive. I think we've all gotten a little smarter, knowing that white folks are still laughing at us...all the way to the bank. Kudos to Lawrence Otis Graham for writing this book. I also liked Member of the Class.

I thoroughly enjoyed this highly informative book! As an African-American, it gave me some pride to see a written account of the lives of successful, prominent African-Americans. HOwever, I was offended by some of the other reviews in which the book was condemned because it displays classism among blacks. There are issues of classism in a majority of the ethnic groups that exist and black people are no different. I was appalled also that some members of other ethnic groups found it amusing and highly questionable that blacks have a history of success in this world. Therefore I am glad that this book was published so perhaps some of the ignorance can be erased.

Graham gives a peek into the lives of the little-known American Black elite. The associations, organizations, families, churches, neighborhoods, and summer vacation spots frequented by this group all are included. Perhaps unknowingly, Graham also gives a accurate account of the history of Black-owned businesses in America. Anyone interested in Black-American culture can't miss this book. I couldn't put it down.

I resisted reading this book because of all the controversy and hype that it attracted. When I saw it on the L.A. Times bestseller list and the N.Y. Times list, and then in my Book of the Month club magazine, I figured it was a book for white people to learn about wealthy blacks. After seeing it on Essence's September bestseller list, I broke down and read it. I've lived many of the experiences that are in this book--the Martha's Vineyard crowd, Howard U. relatives, debutante cotillions, Jack & Jill parties--and the stuff is true. We may not want to hear it, but this book is chock full of dates and history about when and why these groups got started. We hear all this information about whites in other social history books. Why is it so controversial when we learn about the truth behind wealthy blacks? Yeah, it's gossipy and showy, but there are lots of interviews and stories about incredible black politicians, entrepreneurs, physicians, attorneys, college presidents and others whom we should be proud to know about. Just because the author isn't profiling Michael Jordan, Oprah Winfrey, and Puff Daddy, doesn't mean we should all slam the book. Black success includes more than athletes and celebrities. Why is everybody so afraid of it? The pictures of famous families and data on the colleges and our fraternities, alone, made Our Kind of People an important social history. I didn't like a lot of the snobbery of some of the people, but the experiences and information they shared gave me an insight to a segment of black America that we never hear about.